Die for tong heads



y 1952 c. c. WEISS DIE FOR TONG HEADS Filed Sept. 19, 1949 I "DC" OI 070M615 6 (Ittorncgs atented May 13, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT DFFICE DIE FOR TONG HEADS Charles C. Weiss, Oklahoma City, Okla. Application September 19, 1949, Serial No. 116,561

2 Claims.

This invention relates to dies for use in various gripping devices such as tongs for gripping drill pip and preventing slipping of the pipe when unthreading or breaking out drill pipe joints. Dies of this character usually comprises toothed bars that are retained within groove like seats within the gripping device. The dies are applied and removed from the grooves by driving them by means of a hammer. In order to effect a proper grip of the pipe through indentation of the teeth of the dies into the surface of the drill pipe, the teeth and body portions of the dies are treated to a high degree of hardness, consequently the metal of the dies is very brittle and when struck with a hammer small particles break ofi and fly with considerable velocity. It is obvious that the flying particles are extremely hazardous because they are apt to strike the eye or other vulnerable part of the wielder of the hammer. Insurance companies have long experienced this hazard and teach the use of goggles when driving in the dies, but tool dressers very seldom go to this trouble, with the result that many of them are injured. The possibility of injury in the course of drilling a single well may be realized when it is considered that as many as a gross of the dies may be used.

It is, therefore, the principal object of the present invention to avoid this hazard by providing a die that may be safely driven into and out of position in a tong head. In accomplishing this and other objects of the invention as hereinafter pointed out, I have provided improved structure, the preferred form of which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings where- Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a drill pipe tong equipped with die-s embodying the features of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section through one of the dies particularly illustrating the soft metal ends thereon.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view illustrating the manner of driving one of the dies into a jaw of the tong head.

Fig. 4 is a plane view of the jaw showing the die in position.

Referring more in detail to the drawings:

l designates a tong including a head 2 having a plurality of jaws 3 for gripping, by way of an example, a drill pipe as when unthreading or breaking out the joints when pulling drill pipe from a bore hole. In order to enhance gripping action of the jaws in the tong head, certain of the jaws are provided with dies 4 each including a barlike body 5 having tapered sides 6 and l, a front gripping face 8 provided with teeth 9, and. a backing face 10. The di substantially corresponds in length with the depth of the jaw and is retained therein by means of a driving fit within a dovetailed groove I I so that the tapered sides 6 and 7 of the die closely engage the corresponding tapered sides I2 and I2 of the groove H and wedge the backing face I!) of the die against the corresponding face I3 of the groove.

As above mentioned, the dies are applied by inserting one end thereof within the upper open end of the groove H and driving the die into the groove by striking the opposite end with a hammer I 4 as shown in Fig. 3. In order to effect indentation of the teeth 9 of the die into the surface of a drill pipe or the like, the metal of the die is treated to a high degree of hardness, consequently, when the hammer strikes the upper end of the die, particles thereof are broken off and fly in various directions so that they are extremely harzardous to the wielder of the hammer as well as any other person in the vicinity of the work.

In overcoming this hazard, I apply pads l5 and Hi to the respective ends of the die. The material from which the pads are formed cannot take a temper when the die is tempered. As a consequence, the pads retain a certain degree of softness so that when struck by the hammer they will not break oil and cause the hazard which results from use of ordinary dies.

In forming the die, it is cut to length from barstock having tapered sides 6 and I. The pads I5 and it are then applied by using a soft metal which cannot take on a hardness when the die is subsequently tempered. One manner of applying the pads or soft material to the ends of the die is the use of a welding rod formed of the desired metal and which cannot take on a hardness when the die is tempered. The welding metal is applied by building up the ends of the die to the proper depth. The pads are thus united with the body portion of the die so that they are integral therewith. The pads of the die are then finished true with the sides of the body portion and the teeth are cut in the face thereof as in conventional practice. The die is then heattreated to the desired hardness but the applied metal pads 15 and [6 will not harden in the heat treatment, consequently, the pads will retain sufficient malleability so that they will not shatter when struck by the hammer. The pads also form a cushion for the ends of the body portion to protect the hardened body from the blows of the hammer. As a consequence, when a die is to be driven into a groove of one of the jaws, the hammer may be wielded without danger of chipping oif any of the particles of the hardened body portion of the die. The dies may be driven into position with greater rapidity by the use of heavier blows without damaging the dies.

It is obvious that with the use of my improved dies, the hazards of injury are eliminated and the dies may be safely driven into position within the jaws of the tones.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A die for a gripping device of the type including a jaw member having a groove undercut at the sides and extending transversely within a face thereof and open at the respective ends for containing a die under driving fit with ends of the die substantially registering with the open ends or the gr ove, said die including an elongated body having a cross section conforming to the cross sectional shape of the groove to provide said driving fit and of a length substantially conforming to the length ofthe groove, said die having a body portion of a degree of hardness giving a brittle characteristic, said die having a gripping face arranged to project from the groove and provided with teeth distributed over the entire area thereof, said die having an end portion on at least one end thereof of substantially lower degree of hardness than the body portion and directly integral with said body portion to form a striking surface for a hammer when the die is driven into said groove to prevent chipping off or articles of the die and teeth under blows of a hammer.

2. A die for a gripping device of the type including a jaw member having a. groove undercut at the sides and extending transversely within a face thereof and open at the respective ends for containing a die under driving fit with ends of the die substantially registering with the open ends of the groove, said die including an elongated body having a cross section conforming to the cross sectional shape of the groove to provide said driving fit and of a length substantially conforming to the length of the groove, said die having a metal body portion heat treated to a degree of hardness giving a brittle characteristic, said die having a gripping face arranged to project from the groove and provided with teeth distributed over the entire area thereof and having an end portion composed of a softer metal and unaffected by heat treatment and integral with said metal of the body portion to form striking surfaces for a hammer when the die is driven into said groove to prevent chipping off of particles of the die and teeth under blows of a hammer.

CHARLES C'. WEISS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:'

TFNTI'ED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 703,230 Boyd .i si June 24, 1902 1,471,461 Harmon .i.. ..s- Oct. 23, 1923 1,855,143 Williams Apr. 19, 1932 2,218,069 Mooney l- Oct. 15, 1940 2,517,366 Wilson ar Aug. 1, 1950 

